PENNSYLVANIA, USA — It’s been a tough start to trout season for Brian Hess.
“The first time I came out, I got one fish, but he wasn’t big enough for me to keep, I had to put him back," said Hess, who lives in Hellam Township. FOX43 caught up with him as he was out on Tuesday fishing in Springfield Township, York County. "I’ve never seen it like this…this is the first time I’ve seen them not bite. I’ve always had bites here, landed fish here. This year just not catching anything.”
He’s not alone.
“You can’t get the lures or anything underneath certain spots," explained Michael Hesse of Stewartstown. "You can’t do anything because the water makes it where you have to put too many sinkers on.”
It's got these two anglers, and others, asking one question:
Where are all the fish?
“You come out to enjoy yourself," said Hess. "But you like to catch a few fish while you’re out enjoying yourself.”
Mother Nature hasn’t been kind. A plethora of April showers has led to high water in creeks and streams.
“When you do have the conditions like we’ve had, fish will nestle up against the stream bank, find a place under water where there might be less current," explained Tim Schaeffer, executive director of the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission. "They’ll move upstream, downstream, some will stay right in place.”
“In conditions like this, you gotta try a little bit of everything and anything," said Glen Ely of Windsor Township.
Pennsylvania’s Fish & Boat Commission says along with weather conditions, it may just come down to angler perception.
The state is still on track to stock its usual 3.2 million trout this season.
“Our cooperative nurseries stock another million trout in Pennsylvania so that’s about over four million [fish] that get stocked every year," said Schaeffer.
In York County, some anglers believe the sizes of state-stocked trout are shrinking too.
“You used to come out here and catch nice-sized trout, not the limit you know like seven inches," said Hesse. "They used to put nice stuff in here but it seems like every year they keep getting smaller.”
“I talked to my buddy yesterday, he said the biggest one he’s caught was 10 inches," added Hess.
But Schaeffer tells FOX43 those larger fish are in the water.
“We’re right on target where we were in past years," he said. "We’ve been stocking more trophy fish than ever. Those 3.2 million trout, a number of them are the broodfish that are 14-20 inch [in] length.”
Schaeffer is optimistic about the coming weeks for anglers.
“Often times feeding behavior increases after a storm event because they’ve been struggling at that point and there can be sort of a feeding frenzy afterwards," he explained.
“I’m hoping to get a few more than just one!" said Hess.
Anglers can check stocking schedules at any time on the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission website.
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